


The Promise

by YenneferOfVengerberg



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Ciri witcheress makes more sense than Ciri empress, Do you really believe in happy endings, Yen was not going to sit reading bad novels forever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-01 03:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8604730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YenneferOfVengerberg/pseuds/YenneferOfVengerberg
Summary: "Promises," Yennefer said quietly while playing with a chalice of Erveluce, "are an awfully dangerous thing for who utters them and for their recipient. They imprint a invisible mark, a silent contract, if you will, in the two parts. And more importantly, when broken, they can bring terrible consequences for both of them."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is setted a couple of years after the end of Blood and Wine, so I must warn you there is a lot of spoilers both from the books and the games.
> 
> Premises:
> 
> \- Yen and Geralt have been living together in Corvo Bianco;
> 
> \- Ciri became a witcheress;
> 
> \- Nilfgaard won the war.
> 
> As always, the characters and locations do not belong to me but to the genious Mr. Sapkowski, I only use them for my own pleasure without any other objective.

* * *

 

The sun shined through her closed eyelids, but it did not bothered her, she was comfortably shielded from its warm by a tall tree that filtered the rays with its many leaves. At first, she had some difficulties adapting to the always-warm weather of Toussaint, but now she find it pleasant, even if she would never dare to admit it aloud. She had even adapted her wardrobe to the weather, ignoring the witcher's suggestion to abandon her signature black and white colors. That day for instance, she wore the lightest white linen blouse with a loose black skirt that barely reached her shin and her always-present obsidian star necklace. And nothing more. There was no need to wear any accessories and make up, her now calm life did not demand it.

She reached for her chalice of wine with her eyes still closed and sipped of it delicately enjoying the lightheadedness she was already feeling brought by the beverage she had been drinking.

Yennefer had always preferred wine to other kinds of drinks, and she was able to differentiate a good wine from a mediocre one, but that was how far her knowledge about the beverage went. However, now that Toussaint was her home, more precisely the Corvo Bianco vineyard that her beloved witcher had received as payment from the Countess Anna Henrietta, she ought to become a specialist.

The sorceress was sure that as always, Geralt had not taken in consideration the consequences of his actions and he was not aware that owning a winery was not remotely close to own a horse, so she had assumed the most tedious tasks to aid him, such as taking care of the books and dealing with merchants and servants. Her new responsibilities quickly absorbed her attention, as they were an easy way to get distracted from her now too calm life.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by something that shadowed the dimmed ray lights that reached her face. She opened her eyes but she could not make up who was the slender figure standing before her against the sun.

"I'm sorry, Yen, I did not want to startle you. Barnabas said you were here," said the melodious voice Yennefer yearned so much to hear.

"Ciri!" The sorceress got up quickly and embraced the young woman tightly. "How long has it been since the last time I saw you?"

"I do not know, too long," Ciri chuckled against her shoulder, responding the hug with the same intensity.

"Let me look at you," Yennefer said pulling away from the young woman's arms. She quickly noticed the bandage around Ciri's right arm. "Like I did not have enough worrying about one witcher, now I also have to worry about you, witcheress."

"I'm fine, Yen." Ciri dismissed her with a smile.

"You are sounding dangerously similar to Geralt."

"Where is him, by the way?"

"He did not adapt very well to his retirement," Yennefer chuckled. "He left for a contract somewhere near Belhaven"

"Oh no, I was hoping to get that one. I thought I'd come to visit first, though."

"I think you can still reach him, he left this morning."

"Nah, I'm not going to spoil the old witcher's fun" giggled Ciri.

"In that case, let us go inside. I want to at least redo those _bandages_ you improvised" the sorceress winced.

"And how is the retirement treating you, Yen?"

"Retirement only from politics" snorted Yennefer walking with her daughter back to the house. "Despite what you caught me doing, napping quietly by a tree's shadow, I was just taking a well deserved break. I'm helping Geralt to run the vineyard. The last two harvest had been particularly good, I cannot say that I did not use a little help with them, after all what else a sorceress could do while tending the grapevines"

"Oh no, you are not _really_ tending the grapevines yourself, are you?" laughed Ciri sitting by the table in the cool kitchen.

"I'm not too far from it, Ciri," Yennefer answered very seriously which made Ciri laugh even louder. The sorceress removed carefully the dirty fabric around Ciri's arm, revealing a nasty gash in her upper arm. "What did this?"

"Just a nekker. I was clearing a nest, not so far away from here."

"It is infected. You really have to be more careful, you know nekkers can have toxins and pathogenics in their claws, those nasty creatures. Did you clean it properly? You should have restrained your arm so it could heal."

"I cleaned it. And it is in my sword arm, I could not just immobilize it"

"Now you will have to. Why don't you stay here until it is cured?"

Ciri smiled beautifully, warming Yennefer's heart. Ciri was, despite all the scars and dirt acquired in the path, a beautiful young woman. Yennefer felt very proud of her.

"Sounds like a good plan, I cannot lose my sword arm, can I?"

"No, you cannot, witcheress. I'll take care of it" Yennefer cleaned the wound with an alcoholic solution and whispered a healing spell. "Have I ever told you that healing was never an aptitude of mine, not until I met Geralt and I had to start practicing."

"I could not picture you as the town's healer" chuckled Ciri.

"For a long time I thought it was not worth to channel the demanding amount of energy necessary for healing magic, not for someone else. I could not bring up that amount of selflessness. Not until I ran into someone who was worth it."

"And how are you? You and him, I mean"

"Well, it is been almost two years since I arrived and I have not teletransported him to the middle of a lake yet. Which I guess means we are better than ever," Yennefer answered amused. "Yes, we still fight, but for silly reasons now, like for instance the time I yelled to the servants or when he brought home a dead something."

"I do not think it is possible to be different."

"I would not have it differently" Yennefer smiled back at Ciri. "I'll ask Barnabas-Basil to prepare a bath for you, no point on putting clean bandages if the rest of you is still filthy. Daughter, I can still smell the nekker that scratched you."

* * *

Many years had passed since the last time Yennefer sat behind Ciri in front of a mirror and carefully tended the young woman's hair. The last time was when Ciri was still a young girl, barely on her teen years. How the sorceress longed for that time, when fulfilling her beloved witcher request she had gone to the Melitele temple in Ellander, in order to help his surprise child to control her powers. Yennefer had only attended because of her honest desire to help Geralt, paired with a great amount of curiosity. There was no way she could know that in that temple she would find the greatest gift Geralt could ever give to her.

So many time had passed since that and they three had gone through many things, especially too much time apart.

The sorceress combed carefully the long ashen grey hair still wet from the bath, like she had done so many years before. She picked up a pair of scissors and trimmed Ciri's hair. The young woman absently played with the flasks and bottles arranged before her. Yennefer endeared by the moment could not bring herself to reprimand her adoptive daughter for doing so, instead she just fondly combed the woman's hair.

Now with the heavy black kohl washed away from her face, Yennefer realized that Ciri looked much younger. But still, now looking at both their reflections in the mirror, she realized how the two of them resembled to have the same age.

She realized that someday soon Ciri would look older than she would. Someday, Ciri would even look older than Geralt, because he too would also eventually grow old, although much slower. The realization hit her hard, someday Ciri and even Geralt would age and die, while she would remain not a day older than she was now. And what was going to happen to her then? She felt desperation drown her, even way ahead of time, there was nothing she could to stop it.

"Yen, what is wrong? You are squeezing my shoulder," Ciri asked looking at her reflection on the mirror.

"I'm sorry." Yennefer cleared her throat. "I was just remembering the time we spent in the Melitele temple in Ellander"

"It was the last time we were together in peace. It seems it was ages ago."

"I know." Yennefer placed the comb and the scissors back into the vanity table and sat in the bed.

Ciri sat beside her and after a long yawn she leaned back into the pillows.

"How come you did not accept Emhyr's offer?" the witcheress asked, breaking the long silence.

"Why are you bringing this up?" Yennefer asked surprised.

"I thought it was rude to answer a question with another question," Ciri giggled. "I'm asking only out of curiosity. Once you promised me that you would answer my questions with honesty, I hoped that promise was still valid"

"It will always be, darling." The raven haired sorceress took a deep breath and laid next to the young woman. "I did not accept Emhyr very tempting proposal because of you. He offered me a permanent position on his council and an opportunity to rebuild the Chapter or the Lodge, whatever pleased me the most. However I was not willing to pay the price… as long as I stay beside him, I have to be away from you. Because you chose to play dead and I can assure you, my child, he also chose to pretend to believe. Underestimating him is a terrible mistake…"

"But Yen" Ciri said quietly. "You are not like Philippa, with you the Lodge could actually turn up to something good. Have you thought about all the things that could happen if mages had power and freedom again?"

"And what good could bring me all that selflessness, when it never had a positive outcome before? What benefit we got from putting others before ourselves, Ciri? It only pushed us apart, Geralt, you and I. We only got pain and suffering, and we already had our fair share. We have already wasted so much time."

"Are you content with how things turned out then, Yen? Are you satisfied with your life now?"

The sorceress stared at the only small lamp that lighted up the bedroom for a long while before answering.

"I think I'm, my darling." However, she was not sure if it was true.

Ciri probably had been very tired because she fell asleep while they still were conversing. The sorceress did not have the courage to disturb her, so she allowed her to sleep on her bed, like she had done many years ago when Ciri was barely a teenager, except this time, the young woman slept without dreams or nightmares.

Differently from her daughter, it took Yennefer a long time to fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters and locations do not belong to me but to the genious Mr. Sapkowski, I only use them for my own pleasure without any other objective.

 

* * *

"No, Barbanas-Basil, I cannot accept that." Yennefer said pushing the parchments away from her. "We are not going to sell our wine for this price. It is unacceptable."

"Pardon me, my lady," the man bowed politely and continued, "with all due respect, our cellar is full and our chest is almost empty…"

"I'm aware of that, Barnabas-Basil." Snapped the sorceress a little bit ruder than she intended to. "I'm just watching over our vineyard's reputation, you know better than I do that it is almost as important as the taste of the wine. Without its reputation, Est-Est would not be much more than fermented grape juice."

The man nodded quietly so Yennefer continued, rubbing the bridge of her nose with the tip of her fingers. "For now we will let our wine age. I assure you I have a plan. Now, if you could please talk to Marlene and ask her to prepare a meal for Ciri. Something with meat and vegetables, who knows what she has been eating lately."

"Yes of course, lady Yennefer." The majordomo bowed his head and exited the house.

The enchantress picked up the parchments and walked to the master bedroom with the intention to put them on the magically sealed drawer only she could access, and to check up Ciri, for it was long past noon and the young woman was still in bed.

"Wake up, my ugly one" Yennefer whispered when she entered the room. "What are you going to do at night if you sleep the whole day?"

From under the blanket, only a moan answered.

"Ciri, come on." The sorceress sat on the bed next to her and pulled the blankets. "Gods, you are burning."

"I'm so thirsty" Ciri whimpered with a sleepy voice. Yennefer immediately reached for the jug in the night stand and served her some water. Ciri sat up with effort and gulped the water eagerly.

"You are indeed burning with fever," Yennefer repeated touching the witcheress' forehead delicately. "Let me see your arm."

Ciri weakly rolled up her sleeve revealing the bandage around her forearm. Yennefer delicately removed the curative and examined the wound carefully.

"It is not possible," the sorceress cursed under her breath. "What did this, Ciri?"

"I already told you, it was a nekker" the ashen blonde woman answered frowning. Yennefer observed intrigued the ugly, infected gash on her daughter's arm. For many times she had aided Geralt with wounds provoked by all sorts of monsters, the result after her treatment was never something like that. She was aware that Ciri was not a witcheress by strict definition, as her organism had not been modified with the mutagenics witchers were submitted to when they went through the trials, so her body ought to react differently to the monster's toxins. However, it should not have responded so differently.

"I'm still thirsty," Ciri complained, trying to reach the jug of water but the sorceress stopped her and served her. The enchantress held Ciri's arm, looking for something she had missed, without any success. The day before the wound had looked like a regular scratch, how it had worsened so fast?

Yennefer murmured a soothing spell, moving her fingers carefully over the wound.

"An ointment will do it," the sorceress said more to herself than to the her daughter. Before leaving the room she added "I'll have Barnabas-Basil to prepare you an herbal tea to help you with the fever. Please stay in bed, darling."

However, nor the ointment or the tea helped. In fact, nothing that Yennefer did improved Ciri's condition, quite the opposite.

* * *

Yennefer lifted her head quickly when she heard horse' s hooves audibly advancing across the yard. The witcher dismounted the mare graciously and gave the reins to the man who took care of the stable, and had run to met him. The sorceress did not move from her perched position in railing that contoured the front of the house. When Geralt saw her, he immediately displayed his most handsome smirk, however his expression quickly changed as he examined her closer.

"Yen, what is wrong?"

"Geralt…" Yennefer bited her lower lip to keep it from trembling. "Ciri is here. She was fine when she arrived, it was only a scratch on her arm… but it worsened even with my treatment… I… I don't understand."

"Where is she?"

"In the guestroom. She is asleep, come"

* * *

"Ciri," he said with his hoarse voice adopting the softest tone he could mustered. He kneeled by the side of the bed to look at her closer.

"Ge-Geralt?" Her eyes opened lazily and she smiled weakly when she saw the witcher. "I've been dreaming about you." Still with a smile on her face, the young woman closed her eyes once more and sighed softly, falling back asleep.

"What is happening to her?" Geralt asked, almost sounding angry.

"I gave her an herbal brew to help her sleep" The sorceress carefully lifted the blanket revealing the Ciri's wounded arm.

"What did this?" the witcher asked, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly.

"She said it was a nekker," Geralt looked at her rising one eyebrow and she guessed his thoughts. "I know, I do not understand either."

"We have to neutralize the toxins that are acting in her body. I can smell them in her."

Yennefer stared at him biting her lip. "I've tried everything… everything that did not put her life in risk. I thought… but I could not, is too risky"

"What is it, Yen?"

"The third exsufflation of Deldhimben," the sorceress said rubbing her forehead and offered more explanation to the puzzled witcher. "It is a complicated ancient spell. Originally had other usages, but I think it could stop the effects of what is harming Ciri."

"But it could also hurt her even more? Or bounce back to you?" The sorceress nodded.

"I fear something magical is interfering, acting together with the poison. It can only be that, because it is reacting badly to everything I do. Nekkers are not that poisonous, are they, witcher?"

"Definitely not," Geralt sighed observing the sleeping witcheress. "Do you feel a magical aura or a trace of a spell?"

"I feel only a faint vestige, but it could be mine." The sorceress shook her head angry at herself. She had never felt so powerless. "And you? Do you feel something different?"

"I feel nothing. My medallion is not reacting to it. Whatever it is, couldn't it be something else?"

She glimpsed his thoughts and found that Geralt had the same dreadful suspicions than her.

"Something from another world?" Yennefer reached the basin in the nightstand and changed the cloth in Ciri's forehead for a fresher one.

_If that is the case, then there is not much we can do_. Yennefer banished the thought as quickly as it crossed her mind.

The witcher stared at her quietly, with a worried expression shadowing his face.

"We could… as a last resource" the sorceress cleared her throat delicately. "We could try the third exsufflation of Deldhimben to halt whatever is acting against the magic, combined with a watered down witcher concoction to neutralize the toxins."

"Last resource? Why, do you have any other idea, Yen?"

Yennefer sighed and crossed her arms over her chest to hide her trembling hands. "No, but I do not like this one at all," she confessed.

"Then we have to think of something soon" Geralt said quietly, pushing gently a strand of ashen grey hair away from Ciri's cheek. "She is strong, but I'm afraid that if we wait longer, we might witness the limit of her strength."

* * *

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters and locations do not belong to me but to the genious Mr. Sapkowski, I only use them for my own pleasure without any other objective.

* * *

 

"Yen, go to bed," Geralt's voice pushed her out of her thoughts. She looked up at him from the upholstered bench she had placed next to Ciri's bed.

"I'll stay with her, go to bed," he repeated holding a hand out for her. She took his hand but did not get up.

"No, it is alright, I want to stay. She might need me."

Geralt leaned in and kissed her forehead. "You need to rest, go to bed." The sorceress stared at him without answering. She was terribly worried about Ciri and could not stop feeling she was responsible for her condition. She had realized too late that her magic was giving strengths to whatever was harming the young woman.

"I've failed to you and to her once again," she said with all the effort she could muster to stop her voice from trembling. "I promised you that I'd take care of her and keep her safe, and once again I've failed."

"Do not…" he started but she looked away. He sat down next to her and gently turned her face to him. "Listen Yen"

"Geralt, do not."

"Listen, Yen, you did what you could to help her, what you thought it was right. I'm not blaming you for that and I'm sure neither Ciri will."

She nodded and he kissed her lips softly, reassuring her that somehow they would find a way to help Ciri, after all, they always did.

"I want to stay, I'm not going to be able to sleep anyway."

"Alright."

If it was not for the almost imperceptible rise and fall of her chest, the witcheress could be taken for dead. She was paler than normal and even her lips had lost their pinkish coloration. She had not wake up in days and her dreams were a hazy confusion. She had called Yennefer and Geralt's name aloud a few times. Other times she just mumbled random undecipherable words, however, most of the times she remained in morbid silence.

"I do not think there is another way," the sorceress interrupted the quietness that broke her heart. During the day, the sounds of the world outside filled the void, but at night, the silence was just a terrible reminder of what she had done. Yennefer expressed her gratitude for Geralt's presence by squeezing his hand softly.

"I trust you," he whispered observing Ciri. "If you think it is the best chance we have, we will proceed as soon as possible."

"I need some time to prepare… I've casted spells from the first circle before," she said leaning her head into his chest, his powerful heartbeat was always a soothing sound for her. "Precisely the reason why I'm worried."

"I wish it was a mad sorcerer or a horde of elves instead. Something I could just solve with my swords," he mumbled frustrated, running his fingers through her hair. "Once we are done, I'll look for the nekker nest where she got hurt, I'll find what is behind this and I'll kill it."

* * *

The incantation was composed of complex sentences in an ancient language with difficult pronunciation, but Yennefer had no problem memorizing them despite that she had never used the spell. She repeated the words on her head almost as a mantra to calm herself while meticulously she prepared the cellar, placing candles on a circle and lighting the burners placed north, south, east and west of the room. Using the magical force drained from the fire was something she never felt comfortable with, however she would do anything for Ciri.

"The bonfires in the patio are lit" Geralt informed, his raspy voice echoing in the chamber.

"Did you make sure everyone left?"

"Yes, and the watered down White Honey is ready." The witcher held a mug containing the concoction that would neutralize the poison on Ciri's organism.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked into his catlike eyes.

"Geralt, listen carefully. If something happens to me, you should set off all the fires immediately, take Ciri and leave for a whole day, do not come back until the sun has risen and fallen once. Do not let anyone come near."

"Yen…"

"It is very important. Please, promise me you will do as I say." She ran her fingers softly, tracing his cheekbone.

"Yes, I promise." He whispered pulling her into a kiss.

"I love you." She said hoping desperately to not be the last time she would voice those words to him. "Now, go get Ciri."

* * *

She drained energy carefully as if she was sipping a very hot beverage, keeping her mind focused on controlling her breathing and ignoring the exasperating pulsation she was feeling across her body. She could feel Geralt's eyes on her, observing her from outside the circle made of candles that surrounded her and Ciri, who laid morbidly still on the middle of it.

Resolute, she took a deep breath and started reciting the conjuration, moving her fingers and arms as demanded by the spell's procedure. She moved her hands over the sleeping witcheress, releasing carefully the energy she had absorbed.

An unfamiliar growl erupted from Ciri's throat, quickly turning into a shriek. Yennefer could tell that the young woman was still not awake although she struggled, moving her limbs violently, reacting as haunted by a terrible nightmare.

"Calm her down with Axii" the sorceress snarled, struggling to hold the spell. Geralt quickly complied and Ciri laid still once again.

Yennefer's whole body was reacting to the spell with a strong tingling sensation. The pressure she was feeling in her fingers was almost as mortifying as the nauseas that accompanied. Saying that the spell was complicated was indeed an understatement.

She chanted the second part of the spell, feeling the energy crawl through her body like a burning snake towards her arms and hands. Her fingers had never completely recover to the time she was Vilgefortz' prisoner and they hurt so much it felt they would break.

"Yen, your nose is bleeding"

"Leave it… fo-focus on… her"

The third and last part of the spell was the most complicated one. She felt the blood dripping from her nose copiously, running down her face and to her chest, staining her once impeccable white blouse. Her obsidian star necklace was burning her skin.

"No-now"

Geralt crossed the room as quickly as only a witcher could, he placed his arm under Ciri's head and helped her drink the watered down concoction.

Ciri's emerald green eyes flung open as Yennefer rhythmically repeated the three parts of the spell. She barely could make it to the last word, when her vision blackened, her consciousness slipping away. She fought with all her will to stay awake, for she was sure that if she gave in, she might never come back.

As reality was escaping from her, a chaotic chorus of voices invaded her brain. The strongest voice, standing out drastically from the others, sounded oddly familiar, but she could not remember exactly to who it belonged.

Suddenly a stronger sound grounded her, resonating on her ears, and she clung to it with all the strengths she had left. She recognized it as Geralt's potent heartbeat. It had been one of the first things she had noticed about him when they first met, and since then it had become the sound she cherished the most, as it symbolized all his wonderful peculiarities and similarities at the same time; it reflected the life that meant the world to her. She held tight to that sound that brought her back to reality.

She blinked hard as her sight cleared. She felt Geralt's body against hers as he was holding her, preventing her from falling; both were standing next to their daughter. They waited in silence for the longest seconds of their long lives, waiting and hoping that Ciri would break the terrible silence with heartbeat or a breath of life, disproving their dreadful suspicion.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters and locations do not belong to me but to the genious Mr. Sapkowski, I only use them for my own pleasure without any other objective.

* * *

 

The implacable rain fell softly like a curtain on the graveyard, impeding her to see where the numberless rows of stone graves ended or began. All the nameless tombs looked the same, so she looked over them, they could not be the one she was looking for.

As she walked forward in a desperate pace, the hazy rain revealed a dark silhouette of a man against its grey curtain. She approached him, who was standing still, looking down one of the graves; he wore a dark cloak that hid his face.

"Whose grave is this?" She asked him, as she was too afraid to remove the leaves that covered its lid and reveal the name she did not want to read.

"Oh Yennefer, you have to let go." The man whose face she could not see caressed her cheek with a cold hand. She shied away from him but he grabbed her by the arm.

"Where is Ciri?" she asked panicking at the realization. _It could not be_.

"She is where you left her, Yennefer." He said shaking his head, still holding her by the arm with an iron grip. "I can't tell if you are crying or if it is the rain."

She wiped her cheek with her fingers but she could not tell either.

"Is she…?" She could not pronounce the word trapped on her throat, almost choking her.

"Yennefer, she only fulfilled her mortal fate," the man picked up a brown fallen leaf from the grave's surface and placed it on her hand. "She was not like us; you have to accept that for once. We are like the oaks and she was just a leaf."

"Where is Geralt?" she said with a strangled voice.

"Just a leaf," the man said forcing her to close her hand, crushing the oak leaf.

"No!" The leaf had become a handful of ashes that the wind blew, she tried desperately to grasp what was left, but it was in vain.

"You poor thing, you poor victim of your own choices" he said pulling her close to him. "Worry not, the rain ought to stop soon and we the oaks, we will remain."

"No" she tried to push him away but he only clasped her arm tighter as response.

"Yennefer!"

"Yen." Geralt woke her up from her dream. "Your heart is racing. I did not mean to startle you."

"It is alright," she said trying to calm herself. She touched his face and the tangible warmth of his skin grounded her to reality. It had been only a dream. The recent events came to her mind as the somnolent confusion lifted its veil. She had been so drained by the magical effort that she collapsed as soon as she reached her bed, leaving to the witcher the task of taking care of their still unconscious daughter.

_Unconscious but alive_. _Ciri had survived. She was not dead, buried under a stone tomb._

She had made it. The complicated incantation had worked, neutralizing the strong spell that kept feeding from the energy Yennefer canalized to heal her beloved daughter.

"Ciri is awake," he whispered lighting up the small oil lamp.

"Is she alright?"

"She is sore and confused, but she is well."

"I want to see her" the sorceress promptly got up from the bed, ignoring the pounding headache.

"Maybe you want to change first? I do not like red in you," Geralt pointed to the bloodstains on her white blouse. The sorceress removed her shirt, tossing it over a bench. She chuckled when she noticed that he was shamelessly observing her change.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she teased him. "How many times have you seen me undressed, witcher?

"Not nearly enough times.

"We should work on that then" she gave him a peck on the lips. "Later."

* * *

"How are you feeling, Ciri?" Yennefer asked touching the young woman's forehead, feeling her temperature, it was normal and she looked better already.

"Like a griffon picked me up and dropped me from a cliff," Ciri winced. "What happened?"

"Nothing involving a griffon" Geralt said with a hint of a smile. "Wish it was."

"We are not completely sure what happened, darling. Drink up," the sorceress said grabbing a cup and filling it with grape juice. "The nekker that scratched you was tainted with a very effective spell, I was only sure it was something with a magical nature because the incantation that I use to neutralize worked… Whoever casted it was an experienced mage."

"Could it be someone from the Lodge?" Ciri questioned frowning.

"It takes someone particularly gifted or specialized to cast a spell like that and not leave traces." Yennefer looked through the window, observing a bird sitting on a branch. _Was it an owl?_ "No, I'd not discard that possibility even if I cannot think of a reason."

"Can't you think of a reason?" Geralt asked coldly. "Would not be the first time those hags decide to toy with Ciri."

"Of the remaining wizards of the north and the nilfgaardian ones, I can only think of a handful who could be able to cast a spell like that." Yennefer said checking Ciri's wounded arm carefully, it was still swollen. "It could even been an Aen Saevherne. It would not surprise me."

"I do not think I can get surprised anymore" Geralt sighed. "We will find whoever did it, and a good place to start is with the nekker nest you cleared."

"I'll go with you"

"No, Ciri," The witcher said, "you have yet to recover."

"Do not treat me as a child."

"He is right, you are still weak and your sword arm is still wounded." The sorceress placed her hand on the young woman's shoulder, gently pushing her back to the pillows. It never ceased to amaze her that they, father and daughter, were equally headstrong, even without sharing blood bonds.

* * *

"Have you discarded the possibility that maybe she got hurt in another world?" Geralt whispered against her neck, his beard tickling her skin lightly.

"No, I have not." She ran her fingers across the scarred skin of his back, pensively. They had remained with Ciri until she fell asleep to one of Geralt's many witcher stories. The ashen grey haired girl did not show any signs of acceptance to be left behind by Geralt, however exhaustion took its toll on her and she fell asleep quickly. Sleep off the infection seemed the best treatment for her now.

"And Emhyr?" The witcher inquired suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen on their bedchamber, pulling Yennefer out of her drowsy state, she was still weary by the effort of conjuring such complicated spell.

"What about him?"

"Couldn't he have order…"

"No, absolutely no," She interrupted him. "He never wanted Ciri dead."

"You are too quick to defend him." The witcher mumbled lifting his head and staring at her with his catlike eyes. "I despised when he referred to you as _my sorceress._ "

"Oh Geralt, hush," Yennefer laughed, truly amused by his jealousy. "Emhyr finally decided upon letting Ciri follow her own path, or do you really think he believed in your lies about her tragic fate?

He did not answer so she continued. "It does not matter anyway. I'm positively sure he has nothing to do with this."

"There is no point on persisting with this" he sighed. "Assumptions won't take us anywhere. In the morning I'll seek for something concrete."

"Please, be careful." She whispered into his lips.

* * *

Ciri was soundly asleep when Yennefer checked her up early in the morning; her condition was already showing signs of improvement.

After a quick breakfast by the porch, the sorceress resumed her tedious administrative tasks at the vineyard that had been left aside while the she had to take care of the witcheress. When she was done revising the books, she accompanied Barnabas-Basil to stride among the grapevines inspecting their growth, and later to the cellar where they verified the aging of their oldest wines.

"Is Ciri up yet?" Yennefer asked to Marlene immediately when she returned to the house.

"Ciri? No, no I've not seen her, Lady Yennefer" The woman said kindly, drying her hands on her apron. "It has been awfully quiet up there, the poor thing is probably still asleep. I'm making a thick vegetable broth for her, you will see she will be in good shape in no time."

"Thank you Marlene" the sorceress smiled politely, climbing the wooden stairs that lead to the guestroom.

Yennefer cursed under her breath when she saw the that bedroom was empty, and furious, she got the all employees of the vineyard to look for Ciri, as her horse and saddle were still at the stable, meaning that she could not be far.

"You scared the hell out of me." She growled when Ciri was found sitting in Yennefer's favorite spot, by the tree behind the house.

"I needed fresh air," Ciri said using an emotionless tone, mimicking Geralt, however the coldness was limited to her speech only, as her eyes showed something completely different.

"I was concerned," the sorceress murmured sitting next to her daughter. Ciri's anguished expression echoed into her, transforming her anger into sadness and apprehension.

"You thought I took off after Geralt, did not you?"

"Yes," Yennefer admitted, she was not going to lie to her.

"Both of you underestimate me."

"You have no idea how wrong you are, my darling."

Ciri remained in silence while pulling leaves of grass, while Yennefer observed the quiet bucolic landscape. Her thoughts were interrupted by the witcheress, who picked up a dried leaf fallen from the tree that provided them with shade, and she crushed it between her fingers, the sound took Yennefer back to her nightmare, with a disturbing feeling of ice pitting on her stomach. She could not remember many details from it anymore and neither had she desire to, as there were more urgent matters to attend than a bad dream.

"Ciri, we need to talk." It was pointless to stall the conversation any longer. "Now you can tell me why you have really come here."

"I was a fool to believe you would not notice," Ciri looked away, biting her lip.

"I will help you daughter, does not matter what you decide to do."

"The thing is… I do not know what to do"

"Take your time to think, I'll be here to help you." Yennefer touched Ciri's stomach carefully and could not help but smile as response to what she felt.

* * *

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters and locations do not belong to me but to the genious Mr. Sapkowski, I only use them for my own pleasure without any other objective.

* * *

 

The damp black curls of her hair obstinately returned to their ringed shape after the bone comb went through them; she observed their movement absently as she considered the witcher's report.

"So you were led to elvish ruins from the nest," she said staring at his reflection in the mirror. "What kind of elvish ruins?"

"Does it matter?" she sensed a hint of exasperation in his calm voice, "It was some kind of palace. I found what it seemed once was a laboratory, but much more recent than the ruins."

"A laboratory?" Yennefer turned around intrigued. "It could belong to our mysterious mage."

"I though the same, so I looked thoroughly every inch of the ruins. There was nothing left behind that could identify who was using the laboratory and what for. However, I found this." he took a yellow jasper amulet from his pocket and handed it to the sorceress. "Does it look familiar to you?"

Yennefer took the amulet carefully by its chain, avoiding the stone. It seemed an ordinary jewel, except it emanated a faint magical aura. "It is active."

"Can you tell what it does?"

The sorceress picked a small wooden box on the vanity, and after emptying its contains on the table, she placed the amulet there and casted a isolating spell on the container. It was dangerous to keep an active talisman if one did not know its nature.

"I could tell if I had the resources," Yennefer said returning to the task of combing her hair. "Which means I'll have to arrange a meeting with the only other sorceress in Toussaint... an old acquaintance of mine and a _dear_ _friend_ of yours."

"That is not everything," he disregarded her last observation, "Ciri was not the only one attacked by the bewitched nekkers. The druid I talked to told me that at least five people were also attacked and had similar wounds than Ciri, it can only mean that there is more nests."

"You have to investigate those too. Take Ciri with you."

"What?"

"You heard me, take Ciri with you," Yennefer said nonchalantly while applying a mixture of herbal essences under her eyes. "I know our daughter very well, and soon enough the passiveness is going to torture her to the point of recklessness. We can avoid that if you take her with you. I know she will be safe with you."

Moreover, this will give them a chance to talk, Yennefer thought.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she sat on the bed. "Trust me, witcher" she responded to the question that crossed his mind. "I also know how to make amulets, she will not get hurt again, I promise. Now, go and take a bath, but hurry, you know I loathe waiting."

* * *

Once again Yennefer found herself trapped in a reverie about what could happen if Ciri decided to have her child, this time triggered by a woman playing with a toddler in the patio of the castle of Beuclair. The sorceress could not help but feel her heart warm with joy and hope just to think about holding her daughter's child. And once again, she reprimanded herself mentally. She was aware it was not her decision to make. She knew she had to respect and support whatever Ciri decision was.

However, she doubted her ability to maintain her cold neutrality this time, as she always did when she was hired to help women with abortive concoctions, she respected their right to choose so she restrained her personal principles. However this time it was not just any women, it was her beloved daughter. She doubted her capacity of remaining impartial while robbing her daughter's chance to motherhood, a chance herself never had and always desired intensely.

She hurried her pace as she climbed the stairs, following the page who was leading her to the sorceress' tower. He knocked on the door on the top of the stairs and after a quick and silent bow he left.

"Mistress Vigo will see you in a short moment," a girl with a long braid welcomed her, pointing to a bench where Yennefer sat. She noticed that the girl was too young to be an apprentice out of the school.

She hated waiting and she was aware that Fringilla was making her wait in purpose. Her relationship with what was left from the Lodge had not improved after they fought the Wild Hunt, it maintained its tone of mistrust, with Triss being the only exception, because despite everything that happened, they remained good friends.

The heavy wooden door finally opened wide and the apprentice nodded to Yennefer, confirming that her mentor was ready to see her.

"Yennefer" the shorthaired sorceress looked at her from head to toe from behind a large wooden desk covered with books, parchments and glass artifacts. "I can say that I'm surprise to see you here, what do you need? More rain in Corvo Bianco? I thought you could take care of those things" Fringilla used a mocking tone that made Yennefer's blood boil with anger, however she maintained her cold façade.

"'I'm not content to come to you get your aid, but I have no option." Yennefer answer harshly, crossing her arms over her chest. She did not have other choice indeed, so she swallowed her pride. She would do anything for Ciri.

"I owe you nothing, Yennefer. Although I do appreciate what you have done for me and for the Lodge, we paid our debt with you when we helped you with the Wild Hunt."

"I'm not going to ask you a favor Fringilla" Yennefer said coldly "I'm here to inform you about an issue that is also your responsibility as court sorceress."

"As you can see I'm very busy," the nilfgaardian sorceress said with a sarcastic smirk, "not all of us are so fortunate to leave everything behind to become a _farmer_. Nevertheless, I'll spare some moments for you, only out of curiosity."

"Careful Fringilla, do not let the aspirations of power rise up your head, your puppeteer might not be pleased otherwise."

"Please sit down and tell me what brings you here," Fringilla smiled nastily, "we have wasted enough time with pleasantries."

Yennefer placed the small wooden box in the desk in front of the nilfgaardian sorceress and told her about the spell, not mentioning Ciri, it was not going to be from her that the Lodge was going to get confirmation of the witcheress' whereabouts.

"That is very strange… with what purpose would someone bewitch some nasty nekkers?" Fringilla tapped her lean fingers in the wooden surface of the desk. "Sounds like a witcher trap to me."

"That is exactly my fear," Yennefer said with an emotionless voice, although the thought haunted her terribly. "Geralt found this amulet when he was investigating one of the nests. I know it is active but I do not have the resources to discover what it does."

"You should have sent Geralt, I cannot say no to him," Fringilla said smiling mischievously, her intentions to infuriate Yennefer were clear. The nilfgaardian mage analyzed the amulet closely, avoiding the active stone. "However, I have decided I will help you anyway."

"Indeed, with a yellow jasper amulet we cannot perform a retro analysis with a simple spell. You did well coming to me, as I have exactly what we need. Velia, come in here." Fringilla called her young assistant, who opened the door promptly.

"Yes, mistress Vigo?" the girl said shyly.

"Please be a dear and fetch me some white petal and amaranth with the herbalist." The girl nodded and left the room with a hurried pace.

Fringilla arranged some glass artifacts on the bench, while they waited for the return of the child apprentice.

"You are going to tell Philippa I was here" Yennefer said, making clear it was not a question.

"Despite of what you believe," Fringilla said while still working on the bench, "I'm not Philippa's pawn. And neither her spy. I'm in Toussaint for my own interests. Could you please pass me the quicksilver solution, is in the top shelf."

"Explains why you are here and not with the rest of the Lodge in Kovir." Yennefer observed while reaching the ingredient for the other sorceress.

"I'm here because my cousin Anarietta requested me, it seemed better plan than joining Philippa in her brooding in Kovir for she could not fulfill her ambitions to take your place with the Emperor."

"The Emperor does well on not trusting her"

"And since we are having this one on a lifetime heartfelt conversation, pretending we are old friends, may I ask you if you consider someday taking the Emperor's offer? As I know from trustable sources, it is still available for you. Don't you regret leaving all behind?"

Yennefer observed the other sorceress while she ponded her answer, as the truth was that she had been questioning her decision. Partly fueled by the terrible events that happened recently to Ciri that made her recognize, not without a terrible amount of guilt, that she had missed to use her abilities and knowledge for something useful. Something other than wasting her precious magical skills growing vines and enchanting barrels of wine; she had missed the thrill of the chase for a solution.

Also, now seeing Fringilla, she could not help but feel envy of her position, that she once had with the king of Aerdin and with the Emperor of Nilfgaard. She despised the feeling deeply and it nauseated her, but she could not push it away.

She could not answer Fringilla's inquiries for it would be the first time she questioned herself aloud, and she was not ready. Fortunately, sorceress' young assistant arrived, interrupting the conversation.

"Shall we see the amulet?" Yennefer handed the wooden box to the nilfgaardian sorceress and together they finished the preparations for the retro analysis procedure.

"It is a location spell," Fringilla stated apparently confused, "why would someone use a yellow jasper on one of those."

"To be activated as soon as someone takes it from the place it was left." Yennefer whispered angered, realizing the mysterious mage was a step ahead of them all this time.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know my Fringilla was slightly out of character, but I enjoy writting b*tchy sorceress so much, sorry!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters and locations do not belong to me but to the genious Mr. Sapkowski, I only use them for my own pleasure without any other objective

* * *

 

She cursed mentally for letting herself be outsmarted by whoever was plotting against her daughter and for not being able to foreseen the peril that lurked them. As she exited the Cianfanelli's Bank in Beuclair with a hurried pace, she also cursed the dwarven bureaucracy, the dwarves themselves and their goddamned banks. And mainly, she cursed herself mentally for not being able to immediately seek for Geralt and Ciri after her encounter with Fringilla. She had delayed too long to solve the problems of the vineyard and they could no longer wait. She had already cancelled her previous appointment with the Cianfanelli himself, fully aware that for dwarfs it was considered a severe offense to postpone a business meeting more than once, neither she or the Corvo Bianco could afford to lose the good relationship with master Cianfanelli.

Yennefer meandered the busy streets of Beuclair, finally freed from her administrative obligations, she was looking for a quiet place to open a portal, as she did not want to raise uncalled attention, with the imminent danger coming from an unknowing source, the minimum she could do was to be careful.

"Yenna." The sound of the familiar voice coming from behind her froze her from the inside out.

"Val?" Yennefer turned around to face her oldest friend and former lover. He smiled at her as charmingly as only he could.

"I'm so content to see you, Yenna!" He exclaimed pulling her to an embrace, Yennefer gracefully pulled away almost immediately. "You don't have idea of the many terrible rumors that I got about your fate. I was even told that you had died."

"Every time I thought of you, I hoped that neither the war nor the witch hunters would reached you in Aedd Gynvael," she said. "I'm also very glad to see you, my dear friend. Although I did not expect to see you here."

"Not much to do in the north anymore." He frowned, undoing the top buttons of his elegant dark grey doublet, the mage must had been struggling with the warmth of Toussaint. "I was recently in Metinna, where I found an ancient map with the elvish temples, palaces and cities of the region; I had to come to see them personally."

"Do you have a map of the elvish ruins in Toussaint?" Yennefer said dismissing the coincidence with the fact that Istredd had always shown an intense passion for archeology. "Can I see it?"

"Yes, of course Yenna," a handsome smile graced his features again, "Come, this way. I'm staying in the Three Flowers Inn, near the Gran'place."

"Of all the places…" the sorceress whispered as they walked the busy streets of Toussaint.

"Pardon me?"

"Nothing, I'm just very surprise to have run into you,"

"And if I may ask, what are you doing in Beuclair, Yenna?" he said while removing the objects and artifacts scattered over the table on the luxurious room he was renting. Yennefer glanced around, searching for any evidence confirming the coincidence of his presence there was not arbitrary; however, she only found the tidiness so familiar to her.

"I live in a vineyard outside the city," the sorceress answered, deliberately leaving Geralt out of the conversation. The look on his face showed that her intentions were in vain, he had probably read her thoughts already. She reprimanded herself mentally for not being careful enough, she was not used anymore to keep her mental barriers up.

She scanned his mind but he was oddly focused on the way one of her black curls grazed her collarbone, he was intentionally shielding his other thoughts from her.

"Toussaint suits you," he said observing her carefully; she did not like when she looked at her like that, it made her heart ache. "You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you, I did not think that was possible."

"Val…" she reprimanded him, but he cut her off.

"Of course. Forgive me." He cleared his throat and after spreading a large paper on the table, he pointed right in the middle of it. "Here is the castle of Beuclair; it was built by Camus Virro, about five hundred years before the Conjunction for his beloved queen Shalendra. Elvish historians say they abandoned the castle and all the other edifices in the region as soon as they heard rumors about the human arrival. However, I just cannot accept that hypothesis, something else that came with the Conjunction pushed the elves away from their adored constructions and I'm going to find out what. I'm sorry Yenna, Am I boring you?"

"Absolutely not, Val" Yennefer said sincerely, after all she always enjoyed hearing him talk. "Please forgive me, time is something I do not have in abundancy today."

"We will leave those stories for other time then. How can I help you?"

"Do you mind if I borrow your map?" the sorceress smiled in a way she was aware he would not be able to deny anything to her. "I'll return it to you later, and we will have a chance to talk, catch up everything that happened in these years and I'm eager to hear what you have discovered so far."

"We have a deal, then. I'll prepare a bottle of Erveluce."He rolled the map and handed it to the sorceress. "If you need anything else, you know where to find me."

"I appreciate it."

As Istredd observed her with an odd expression, she opened a portal, letting the amulet guide her to where Ciri and Geralt were. She arrived just in time to witness Ciri slash a nekker with a swift movement of her sword, the creature fell with a loud thud.

"If I knew that killing monsters was going to be so good for your health, I would had spare you of all those days I kept you laying on your bed."

"Watered down Swallow helped." Ciri confessed cleaning her sword

"You let her take a witcher concoction?!" Infuriated, Yennefer yelled at Geralt. "I cannot believe how irresponsible you are!"

"Yen, calm down."

"Calm down?! We do not know what those damned potions can do to her baby!"

"Baby?" Geralt looked shocked back and forth between Yennefer and Ciri.

"Yennefer!" Ciri snarled.

"What are you talking about? Whose baby, Ciri? Yen?"

"Mine." The witcheress murmured directing a furious look to Yennefer.

"I did not know you had not told him," Yennefer said reaching for her adopted daughter, who shied away from her.

"Ciri…"

"Not the time or the place to talk about this, alright?" Ciri growled annoyed, while Geralt stared at them with a strange expression. "Yennefer, why are you here?"

"You are right, we do not have time." Yennefer nodded and cleared her throat. "The amulet was meant to be activated as soon as it was taken from where it was left, letting our mysterious mage know that we are on his track."

She casted a spell on Istredd's map, that levitated in front of them.

"I left the amulet active with Fringilla, but I do not think that will fool the mage. So, we have to act fast. This map indicates the elvish ruins in Toussaint, the best chance we have is to look on the ones that are the closest to the nekker's nests."

"We found the nests here, here and here." The witcher pointed on the map.

"Then we shall see those three ruins. I'll go to the furthest away and you two start with the closest. If you find something, heat the amulet I gave you with Igni and I'll go to you."

"I can check the third ruin…"

"Absolutely no." Yennefer cut her off harshly. "Stay with Geralt. And no more potions."

She casted a portal open and left in time to avoid the young woman protests.

* * *

"I assume you did not have any luck either," Yennefer asked the witcher sitting by the bonfire.

"We found nothing," he shook his head while teasing the fire with a stick.

"And all I found on my ruins were a nestle of kikimores. I froze them. You can take Ciri there later to kill them, she seems to enjoy using her sword." The sorceress said sitting next to him by the fire. "Where is she, by the way?"

"By the creek, I think. She wanted to be alone."

"Did you talk?"

"We did," he said frowning. "You need to have patience with her, Yen. She is worried and confused…"

She felt vile envy crawl her mind when she realized that Ciri had told Geralt much more than she had tell her.

"She told you who the father is?"

"Don't bother reading my mind." He sighed. "She did not tell me because I did not ask, but does it matter anyway?"

Yennefer did not answered.

"I told her that we will support her no matter what she decides." He continued absently breaking the twig he had been playing with.

"I also told her that." She said observing the orange light casted by the bonfire dance across his handsome profile. "Once I promised Ciri I was always going to be honest with her. But I broke that promise, I lied to her."

"Yen, is not your decision." His voice adopted a protective tone. "I'll not allow you to influence her decision anyhow. We are here to support her."

"It is my decision to not assist her if she desires to get rid of that child." Yennefer said coldly. "I'm not going to take away from her opportunity to have that gift that I always wanted and I could never had. How I wish someone had done the same for me!"

"Yennefer!" he growled, "this is not about you!"

"You do not understand," she said harshly. "If she desires to have her child, I will help her during her pregnancy and as long as that child lives. However, she will not get my help if she chooses the other path, you will have to get Fringilla or that vampire- barber-surgeon friend of yours to aid you to murder that child."

Geralt observed her in silence, amber flames on his cat-like eyes.

"And I do not desire to witness it either," this time she could not contain the tremble on her voice. "If she chooses that path, I will leave."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters and locations do not belong to me but to the genious Mr. Sapkowski, I only use them for my own pleasure without any other objective.

* * *

 

Yennefer observed the morning break into the sky, with the sun lazily rising upon the mountains of the Sansretour valley. She clung herself tighter to the witcher's back as Roach's pace lead her back to a drowsily state, interrupted, however, when Geralt pulled the reins suddenly stopping the horse. The sorceress lifted her head just in time to see Ciri hastily jump from her own horse and run to the bushes that surrounded the dirty road.

She also dismounted and pulled the water canteen from the witcheress' saddle and she waited patiently for her daughter to return. When she did, she looked miserable, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"If you are not feeling well, you can return to Corvo Bianco." Yennefer proposed handing her the water flask, which she took and drank eagerly. "Geralt and I will look for the laboratory in the last ruin."

"No, let's go." The obstinate young woman said with a harsh tone. However, when she spoke again, her voice softened. "Can't you do something to help me with this nausea?"

Yennefer, well used to help pregnant women with the sickness so characteristic of the early months of gestation, casted a soothing spell on her daughter.

"How long will last this nausea?" Ciri asked after a while, breaking their silent ride.

"It differs from woman to woman, darling." The sorceress answered sweetly. She briefly scanned her daughter's thoughts and could not hide her smile when she saw that a decision was starting to form in Ciri's mind.

"Yen!" Ciri noticed her intrusion and reprimand her. "Do not pry into my head, I do not like it."

"I'm sorry," Yennefer apologized with a smile, clinging tighter to Geralt.

"I was just taking in consideration a couple of things" Ciri mumbled looking straight ahead. "For instance, how am I supposed to raise a child and be a witcher?"

"Just like I did," the witcher said dismissing her concerns. "And I think you turned up pretty well."

"Yes, but you had help, you took me to Kaer Morhen."

"And you also do. You have our help."

"When you are in the Path, we will take care of your child," Yennefer said not being able to conceal the joy that filled her heart just at the thought of holding Ciri's child. "You can fully control your abilities now, so time and space are not a problem for you, darling."

"No, but I do not want to be a burden for you," the witcheress said patting her horse. "I do not want to disturb your well-deserved rest."

"Nonsense. Plus, Yen is so excited to help you she is constricting my ribs like her arms were the roots of a Leshen." Geralt chuckled while he pulled the reins of Roach, halting the horse. "Here are our ruins."

"Well, aren't these the flimsiest ruins ever?" The witcheress said jumping out of her horse.

"If they are not, they rank high on the list." Geralt answered with a smirk holding his silver wolf medallion. "At least, I think we are in the right place."

Yennefer nodded, she could feel the magical aura humming from the underground.

A thick wall of trees and bushes covered the entrance of the ruins, indicated by the remains of an archway covered by ivy. Carefully, they descended the remains of a stone stairway, avoiding the roots that came from both the ceiling and the steps. The sorceress casted an orb of light, that spread its strong white luminosity all over the partially collapsed entrance hall. The soft murmur of water running copiously could almost disguise a low continuous growl that came somewhere in the depths of the ruins of what seemed had been a temple long ago.

Yennefer, lured by the faint magical aura, followed into a long corridor on the side, with the witchers walking closely by. They avoided the stones, remains of statues and skeletons that belonged most likely to thieves, she concluded, worrying with what had brought them their death.

At the end of the corridor, behind the ruins of the ancient elvish temple, there was nothing but a tall stonewall. The sorceress effortlessly undid the illusion, revealing the edge of a tall cliff where the illusory wall was. Ciri kicked a few pebbles out of the edge and for the time it took them to hit the bottom with a faint thud, they were able to estimate the impressive height of the scarp. The stone wall around the edge was straight as it was cut by a hot knife.

"The magical trail we are following is coming from there." Geralt stated looking down and he took a deep breath. "Open a portal, Yen, there is no other way."

"I wonder if one day you will finally understand that my portals are safe." Yennefer teased him, casting the spell.

The bottom of the cave was humid and smelled strongly like an unpleasant mixture of moss and ozone. They walked carefully, entering one of the many tunnels. The magical aura hummed on her ears and tickled her skin with an increased intensity. She could also hear Geralt's medallion vibrating against his chest. They could only be in the right way.

They did not had to walk long before the stone tunnel ended in a larger cave, segmented partially by large boulders. Yennefer's magical orbit illuminated the surface of the many flat stones revealing many artifacts, vials and amulets. Probably the source of the trail they were following.

On top of one of the improvised counter rested a large silver cage.

"Is that my kestrel?" Yennefer cursed. It was indeed her magical black bird.

"How could I forget it." The witcher said watching the bird closer. "What is doing here, Yen?"

"Istredd is here." Yennefer growled, enraged. She cursed at herself mentally for dismissing too quickly her intuition about her former lover's odd presence in Toussaint.

"Why is he here, Yen?" Geralt questioned. His voice cold as ice matched the look he directed to the sorceress.

"Let us find out."

"I know why." Ciri pointed to a dead nekker strapped to a flat stone. Yennefer cursed again as her magic orbit casted its light across the section of the cave they were approaching, illuminating the dozens of flasks and artifacts arranged over the flat stones of the improvised laboratory. She felt the magical signature of a portal casted not so long ago.

"A portal was casted here." Geralt mumbled.

"I can't tell if it was an entrance or an exit." Yennefer bitted her bottom lip. They would have to split again. She murmured the reconstruction spell, opening the portal again.

"Search the cave, he might still be here." She said harshly, jumping into an unknown portal was not a plan she would follow pleasantly, as it often led to a trap like a cell or a dungeon. "If you find him, let me know heating the amulet I gave you."

The sorceress took a deep breath, gathering courage and walked into the portal. It fortunately did not led to a trap, but to a desert alley of Beuclair, near the Gran'place. However, not much later, when she walked into Istredd's room she realized bitterly that her first impression was wrong.

He was waiting for her sitting on an armchair, patiently playing with his chalice.

"Took you long enough. Please sit down." He said pointing to the chair across him.

"Explain me what I found in that cave!" Yennefer snarled. Her hands glistened with purple lightings, ready to be released.

He laughed and pointed to the chair again. "Yenna, please sit down and we will talk like the two enlightened mages we are."

"Tell me why you hurt Ciri," she did not move but the light emitted by the energy accumulated in her hands intensified. "I'm giving you the chance to answer only for the sake of our old friendship.

"Ciri?" he frowned, calmly serving himself more wine. "Oh no Yenna, I'm so sorry, the trap was not meant for her. It was never my intention to hurt her. I apologize."

"What was your intention then?" she said reabsorbing the energy in her hands.

"Sit down and I'll tell you." He smiled charmingly pointing to the chair once again. This time Yennefer complied. "I got us a bottle of Erveluce, as I promised you."

He poured some wine into a chalice and handled it to Yennefer, who did not drink it.

"A pity. It is divine." He nodded and drank slowly, holding her cold gaze.

"What were your intentions?" she repeated harshly. His first response was a throaty laugh.

"Yenna, I only wanted to save you." He said reaching for her hand but she shied away. "I know how miserable you are here. I know this was never the life you planed for yourself. You are far too brilliant and talented to be just someone's wife, to run a vineyard, to spend your days wasting your potential in this warm end of the world."

She looked at him, perplexed with his speech.

"I know this is only temporally, until that witcher leaves you again. He is an anchor for you, my love. He keeps you in this miserable situation."

"You do not know what you are talking about" she interrupted him. "It was my decision to come here. You should know me better, Val. None forces me to do what I do not want to do."

"Precisely. I have been observing you for a long time. At one point you got lost, Yenna. You lost everything: your home, your reputation, your career and even your own life at one point. You thought you had lost it all so you followed that mutant here. You thought you lost it all so you settled with the few crumbs you could gather. However, you were wrong, you still have me and I have come here to tell you that. I can help you get everything you deserve, my love."

"You have lost your mind." She said coldly. "That or you lost completely you capability of deduction, _my friend_."

"I promised you that I was not going to give up on you."

"Promises can be broken, Val."

"I did not break mine." He smiled crossing his arms on the table and leaning into them. "I simply got tired of waiting."

"Waiting for what?" she frowned, getting up. She was done playing this little game with him. "I love Geralt and he loves me. We have a daughter given to us by the destiny, and we love her even more. There is nothing here for you. There is nothing for you to wait for."

"Here is where you are fooling yourself, Yenna." His handsome features adopted a mean smile. "We are different than them. Time will reach them soon enough while we stay the same, they will wither, dry and disappear, like the fallen leaves of an oak. We are like that oak, Yenna, we will remain for centuries to come. And if the mutant doesn't leave you on his own will again, like he did many years ago, soon enough time will force him to leave you, Yenna. Then you will come to me broken and desolated once again. It is bound to happen, you know it."

Yennefer responded with the same kind of unpleasant smile. "Did you ever wonder why never looked for you during all those years? Even when Geralt and I were not together, when he was with someone else? I never looked for you because you are my past, Istredd, nothing more. Honestly, I even forgot about you."

He flinched at her words, but quickly he collected himself and laughed in a terrifying manner.

"You have no future with that aberration you love so much. He has no future at all, because he may had not fallen into my first trap." He got up, conjured a portal and he extended his hand to her. "However, I suspect he and that freak daughter of yours might had fallen into my net now, care to join me to verify?"

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you so much for reading and leaving me kudos and comments! You make me happier than Yennefer daydreaming of holding her grandchild!


	8. Chapter 8

_"If you were here_

_I'd whisper sweet nothings in your ear_

_And appeal to all your fears_

_If you were mine_

_I'd bring you so much further down_

_And twist your mind until the end of time"_

Sirenia, My Mind's Eye.

* * *

Taken by the anger, Yennefer walked through the portal Istredd had opened. Later she regretted bitterly to let herself fall into his provocations. He knew her too well, and he knew exactly how to pull the strings of her temper.

The cave they arrived was solely illuminated by the portal's faint light that extinguished itself as soon as Istredd closed it behind him, leaving them into complete darkness. Her eyes not accustomed to the lack of light could not tell much from what hid on the cave, so she quickly casted an orb of light, but nothing happened.

"It is useless, my love." His voice came from somewhere in the darkness, and for her dismay, she realized it was the only sound she could hear. "This part of cave is protected with a blocking spell."

"Stop calling me that." She growled causing a macabre laugh from him. The mage lighted up a torch using a flit, the orange light that emanated by it corroborated turning his handsome smile into a gruesome grimace.

"Where are they?" She walked carefully in the darkness that was retreating as Istredd iluminated the ambient. She stumbled into a cold metallic fence that gave the sorceress a shock when she touched it with her hands. She cursed loudly.

_Dimeritium._

"Patience, my love," he said as he slowly lighted one by one the torches hung in the stone wall. "I have to confess I'm sadden to use the installations meant for my backup plan. I'm so sorry the main plan did not go as I imagined, but oh well, I guess I should have learnt by now that I'm not going to get everything I want."

"Shut up! Stop your nonsensical blabbing, I've had enough!" She shout as the torches' light revealed that both of them were locked in some sort of cage made of stone walls and dimeritium bars. The sight in the other side of the bars made her heart skip a beat and her blood boil with anger. Geralt and Ciri were frozen, petrified as statues.

"What have you done?!" she launched herself against him, pushing him against the stone wall. The furious sorceress hit him hard in the face drawing blood with her nails. Istredd instead of flinch or fight back laughed terribly, the echo in the cave added to the macabre effect.

"I have done nothing yet, Yenna, calm down," he said holding her hard by the wrists to prevent her from hitting her again. Yennefer tried to release herself from his grip but he only squeezed her harder, very painfully.

"As you can see, they are just petrified, a simple spell you could easily undo if you were not here with me. But since you are and you cannot change that, calm down and let us talk, I still have a few things I want to tell you." He continued with insane calm.

"I do not want to talk to you! Let them go!" she hissed still struggling to get out of his hands, however he twisted her wrists, making her groan with pain.

"Please, my love, be still. I really do not want to break your delicate wrists, but I will have to if you do not behave. Now, be still."

She understood that right now fighting was useless and if she wanted to get out of the situation and help Geralt and Ciri, she would need her fully function hands. She complied and stopped fighting him back. As promised, he immediately released her arms.

"Very nice," he smiled and wiped the blood from his cheek nonchalantly. "I knew that you were still at least a little bit reasonable. Now, where we were?"

He walked to the metal bars, carefully to not touch them and pointed to the two living statues. "They are well for now, they are alive and conscious, they can see and hear everything. I wanted to kill him and wait for you to come to my arms, I'd be waiting for you, as I always did. However, I had to change my mind, and it was all thanks to you. I was prepared for you to discover it was me who rushed his mortal fate, so I came up with this. Now, once again I had to adapt to the situation, but I have to admit I'm pleased as they both will serve as witness. Sadly, they will not get to hold their last memory of you for too long because I'll kill them anyway."

"I'll go with you, Val." She said with an artificially calm voice. "Just let them go, I'll go with you."

"No, no, my love." Istredd shook his head while a sad smile formed on his lips. "You won't forget about him. You are not going to forget about them."

"I promise you, I'll go with you and I won't look back. Let them go."

"I do not believe you!" He howled, his voice echoing in the cave like a ghost. "It is all ruined now. You broke your promise. You ruined everything. And we will all die today because of you." At each of his words the insanity grew on his expression

"It is all ruined now," he repeated, continuing his mad monologue. "We are oaks, Yenna. We prevail while they, the leaves, wither and decay; they are victims of time while we are victors. Those meaningless leaves are in our way, but you will never forgive me if I kill them, even if I'm just accelerating the process. Don't you understand, my love?"

"Shut up, whoreson!" she spat "I'll kill you before you even try."

"That is precisely why I have to start with you, my love." He slapped her across the face with such force that she fell. "You ruined it all."

"You must have really lost your mind if you think I'm going to let you touch them." Yennefer hissed wiping the blood on her lips with the back of her hand.

"You see, since I had to conjure this complicated magical block here, preventing you from ruining things further, I'll have to kill you with my own hands." She barely understood his words as everything went black when he kicked her in the guts while she was trying to get up. "He was so bad for you, my love. That mutant broke you in so many ways and sadly beyond repair. But do not worry, while I die I'll think of you as you were before him."

He grabbed her by the hair on the back of her head and forced her to stand. She scratched and dug her nails on his arms but he only strengthened his grip.

"I feel so sorry for you, my beautiful love." He whispered holding her with both his hands by the neck, Yennefer kicked him and cursed at him loudly but he ignored her. He pushed her hard against the stone wall, knocking the air out of her. "You ruined everything because you thought he loved you. He is a mutant, he is not capable of that, I already told you that once. You ruined it all for nothing, my love."

"I thought long about this moment," he continued as Yennefer struggled against him, she could feel his blood running down her hands from where she had hurt him with her nails, however he did not loosened his hold. Neither he even flinched when she kicked him anywhere she could reach; he just spoke with insane calm while his grip tightened around her neck. "And I decided to kill you exactly like this. I wanted to feel you fighting back, you were always impetuous and strong willed, and I love that about you. I dreamed about killing you while watching the life die in your beautiful eyes."

Yennefer looked over his shoulder, to Geralt and Ciri petrified by Istredd's trap. They could see and hear what was happening, she knew that if she let him win, her beloved witchers would die passively in his hands, without a chance to defend themselves, one watching the other die. She could not let that happen.

Through the pain and desperation provoked by choking in the hands of her former lover and friend, she remembered the stiletto she kept on her boot. Istredd was too absorbed with his mad monologue to realize that she was using her last strengths to reach for it, and that with a quick movement she stabbed him in the stomach.

Over his shoulder she realized that the magical trap that was restraining Geralt and Ciri flickered, weakened by the mage's sudden loss of concentration.

"Yenna! What are you doing?" he babbled, not removing the pressure of her neck. She closed her eyes and smiled while she stabbed him again this time in the heart. She was going to save Geralt, Ciri and her grandchild. She smiled at the thought.

Through her closed eyelids she saw a green flash illuminate the cave briefly and she let go of the knife, still planted on Istredd's chest.

"You are ruining it again, my love" his last words echoed across the cave like a ghost while the witcher's steel sword slashed his neck. Yennefer struggled to catch her breath through her hurt throat, suddenly released by the mage's deadly grip. A wave of warm blood poured by the wound Geralt opened on Istredd's neck washed over her, drowning her and dificulting even more the simple task to breath; She fell sideways for what it seemed ages. The last thing she saw were Geralt's catlike eyes as he tried to reach her.

Yennefer fell into Ciri's arms and the last thing she hear was her daughter's scream.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you so much for reading, commenting and giving kudos to this story.  
> Fear not my adorable readers, the epilogue will bring closure to this story.
> 
> Please forgive me if there is any mistakes, I'm posting this 1 A.M., let me know if you find something wrong. (Gosh, I need a beta).
> 
> Istredd's madness was inspired by a song called "My Mind's eye" by Sirenia.


	9. Epilogue

Spring in Toussaint was a wonderful thing; the vegetation blossomed beautifully in the valleys and vineyards, sparkling with green, fertility and abundance the whole fairytale land. The weather showed it most pleasant face, with the wind blowing a soft breeze that complimented the gentle warmth spread by the sun all over the Sanscretour valley as well as a nice bottle of aged Est-Est suited the seasonal hunt meat and vegetables.

The same soft breeze pulled Yennefer black tresses delicately, but she did not mind, she was distracted watching the little boy playing with his toys, scattered over a soft wool blanket laid in the grass at the shadow of a tall tree.

"Do you want it, my little bird?" Yennefer said while stroking the soft hair that covered the little boy's head. The toddler reached for the wooden horse she was holding.

It was indeed a lovely day, she thought observing the little boy playing with his toy. Spring had been especially nice and the sorceress knew it had to do with the presence of the baby boy on their lives. He was born in the beginning of the mild winter of Toussaint and his birth had been one of the easiest Yennefer had ever witnessed, she wondered now if it was a reflection of the even-tempered personality the boy was already showing.

"Your mommy is coming back home soon," she whispered caressing his tiny foot. "We miss her very much, don't we, my little bird?"

She did not expect an answer from a boy so young, but he looked at her with his big smart eyes the color of the emeralds and he seemed to know exactly what she was saying.

"Time to feed our little boy," Geralt said handing Yennefer a bowl with grapes cut in half. He sat beside her, pulling the little boy to his lap. He tickled the baby, who responded with an adorable giggle. "What do you have here? Oh, it is a horse. Every horse needs a name, how about Roach?"

Yennefer's heart warmed with the sight of the witcher and the little boy playing, moments like this parched together all the pain they had gone through. Most recently, their deadly encounter with Istredd months ago left yet another source of hurt on Yennefer's heart that did not heal as fast as her bruised neck. She did not regret the death of her oldest friend and former lover; it had been necessary in order of their survival. However, the sorcerer's words had echoed in her in a vile way, he was not entirely wrong and she was aware of that. She knew what awaited her on the future, but when Istredd had voiced her fears aloud, his words sounded like a sentence.

It does not matter, she thought. _I am going to treasure every moment like this_.

"There, my little bird, do you want a grape?" She said giving the small boy half-grape. With a soft tissue, she wiped from his little chin the juice that dripped as he chewed the fruit.

"I hope Ciri is doing well, is her first time in the Path since he was born." Geralt said stroking the head of the little boy sitting on his legs. "I should have gone with her."

"She is well" Yennefer ensured him while giving another half grape to the baby boy. "Soon, she will tell us that herself. She said she would return the day of the equinox."

The look Geralt gave her denounced that his worries persisted. She stroke his cheek softly, endeared by his protectiveness.

"What else worries you?"

"How long we will enjoy this peace?" he whispered taking the toy that the boy handed him.

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does." He muttered looking straight into her eyes, "I fear soon we will receive unwanted visitors, too interested on him. I do not believe in the prophecies but too many people do… How long can we hide him? How long until his father comes to take him away? And the mages seeking a way to use him? And Emhyr, looking for his grandson and sole heir?"

"We will manage," Yennefer said with a calm voice, though she shared his concerns. "We always do."

He nodded. She knew he had just put his worries aside temporarily, and she had done the same. They limited themselves to enjoy the small moment they were.

Suddenly a pulse made her ears ring and Geralt's medallion tremble.

"Your mommy is here." Yennefer smiled and kissed the little boy's forehead.

"How was the hunt?" Geralt asked as Ciri approached them.

"A couple of kikimores and endregas." The young woman responded standing before them. "And a cockatrice! I'm dying to tell you that story, but it will have to wait."

She leaned and took the small boy in her arms. "Hey handsome baby, oh you are getting so big. I hope this two are not spoiling you too much."

"I think is our duty as grandparents to spoil him." Geralt answered with the most handsome smile Yennefer had ever seen.

"Then it is time to give you two a rest," Ciri said bouncing the boy on her arms, he giggled adorably. "Come on, my baby, mommy is going to tell you about the cockatrice she killed all by herself."

Yennefer and Geralt observed in silence as Ciri strode down the hill towards the house while happily talking to her baby boy on her arms, who was too young to understand what she was saying but his smart eyes seemed otherwise.

"Yen." He said suddenly after a long silence. She realized that it was the first time they were alone in a long time. "I have something I want to give you."

She frowned as he reached for his pocket.

"What is it?" She asked curious, resisting the urge to read his mind.

"It is a promise." He said sliding carefully a beautiful jewel in her ring finger. It fitted perfectly. "Is a promise I should have made you long time ago. It is a reminder that no matter what we left in the past and what comes ahead, I will do whatever it takes for us to remain together."

"Geralt…" The diamond on the ring shined delicately, reflecting the sunlight that peeked through the leaves of the tree.

"Don't say anything." He said holding her hand. "Just accept the ring and I'll take it as a promise that you will do the same."

 _That is something I can do_ , she thought as a hint of a smile escaped to her lips.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you soo much for reading my story! Thank you for comenting and giving me those lovely kudos! I Appreciate it so much!
> 
> And specially, thank you, DaisyofGalaxy, first of all for the idea of Geralt's proposal and second for the nice words and support you gave me while writing this. Thank you also for the long and awesome discussions of witcher related topics, during those I felt like we were like Nimue and Condwiramus hahaha
> 
> Our community of Witcher fanfiction writers and readers is not very big but is awesome. I always say I write for myself, but I have to admit I also enjoy writing for you! Thank you! If you like reading my stories, I want to let you know that I have some other stories in mind, but the first item of my list is revise my first fanfiction "Sweet Curse". Also, I have an adorable one-shot almost done. Keep tuned and once again, thank you for reading!


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